


NEIGHBORHOOD

by DrawingBooks_Louayokes_5



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotions, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Idiots in Love, M/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-03-01 19:03:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrawingBooks_Louayokes_5/pseuds/DrawingBooks_Louayokes_5
Summary: Barry Allen needs a time-out.So he moves to the other end of Central City, far away from Joe and Iris and Cisco and Caitlin - and all his problems.Only a day after Barry moved in, someone moved in beside him - Leonard Snart.Soon, Barry finds himself asked a favor by Snart - he asks for Barry to be his boyfriend to get his sister Lisa off his back ...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I have 5 other Fan fictions waiting for me, whom I have all felt displeasure for after typing either the first few words or the first few chapters. Why am I starting a new one? With no idea how this will work out? Maybe it's because I searched for a particular type of Fan fiction, which I have found only once yet and now I want to bring some second work of that type out there (which of course won't be as successful because I'm not one of a hell of a good writer as I believe the author of the work that inspired me is). And btw if you find some words that aren't American - I usually write in British, you cannot believe how often I wrote 'flat' only to face-palm myself in my mind and correct it to 'apartment'. Urgh. English is spoken by too many people.  
> Whatsoever, all I really wanted to say is that I hope you like this story (and that it isn't too similar to anything you know yet because I wanted something individual after all) and will enjoy reading it. Please feel free to leave comments below and also please leave kudos if you liked the story :) That would mean much to me.

 Barry Allen, hero, badge, speedster, The Flash, son, brother, friend, boyfriend, nemesis, enemy. So many names for just one person. He was sick of it.

 He needed a time-out.

 So he took an apartment at the other end of Central City, far away from Joe and Iris and Cisco and Caitlin - and all his problems.

 This meant he had to get a new coffee shop. And a new supermarket. And a new everything, it seemed.

 The man who gave him the keys to his apartment  was wearing no smile, but a frown. "Have I seen you before, kiddo?" he asked, in a low, grumpy voice. Barry shook his head. "N-no. Um. Thanks for the keys, Mister Carter." He held them up a little, immediately feeling stupid for doing so and awkwardly stuffing them in his pocket. He left for the apartment in a hurry, hoping the man didn't think he was The Flash. He only had talked to the landlord on the phone, so Mister Carter couldn't have known his face.

 Hopefully, this wasn't going to be a problem.

 

 It was.

 It was going to be a problem.

 A day - a _day_ after Barry had moved in, someone moved in beside him. Guess who! It was no other than Leonard Snart.

 Who had knocked on Barry's door, announcing they would be neighbors from now on. Yeah, huh. Pretty much of an own goal, no? No.

 Snart seemed relaxed when Barry explained to him that he had shot himself in the foot and even smirked after Barry finished his speech. "Try all you want, my spy has found you and I will learn all about you, Barry Allen. Don't think you can outsmart me, here. Once I know your habits, and trust me, you won't know mine, I will be able to defeat you. Once and for all."

 Barry sighted. "Good luck with that." And shut the door close in Snart's face. He had wanted to escape those standards, had wanted to have a life away from all that.

 It was like it was chasing him, the fate of being a hero, having nemesis and duties. And friends and family, but that was the side of the coin that Barry didn't want to erase.

 The days went by without Barry seeing Snart only once.

 Iris, Joe, Cisco, and Eddie helped him to move in - Iris only held out hammers and did as much as she could without actually making her hands dirty, Cisco arguing with himself about where the dishes would go.

 Barry was the one who said where things should be placed and helped to place them there.

 When the only thing left was his personal stuff, he told them that he needed no more help and sped through all of the left cartoons. After minutes, they were all standing in a few not very high towers empty on the floor.

 Barry settled on the new couch, getting the left-over's from earlier (yes, there were leftovers, even though Barry was there), Lasagna. If he loved anything more or mutual to Pizza, it was Lasagna.

 He ended up watching Frozen on Netflix, half humming, half singing along to the songs until he eventually, fell asleep.

 

 "Didn't know you could sing that well, Scarlet."

 "Snart. You heard me?"

 "The walls aren't as thick as they seem. Frozen? _Cute_."

 "What do you want?"

 "I ... wasn't quite honest with you. I didn't only come here to defeat you."

 Barry waited.

 "I came here ... to ask for a favor."

 "A favor."

 "Yes."

 "And why exactly do you think I will grant you one?"

 "Because you're a hero and you're good. And good heroes do help people in need."

 "People. Not villains."

 There was a pause and finally, Barry sighted. Snart smirked. "What is it?"

 "Lisa hasn't stopped teasing me for having no ... relationship and I told her I was in one. I told her I haven't told her because I was seeing a man."

 "You told Lisa you had a boyfriend?"

 "Yes. And I lied."

 "The usual, ain't it?"

 Snart smiled.

 "I guess I should be your boyfriend then?" Snart only smiled. "Why me?"

 "Because it'll be a fun game and Lisa doesn't know Barry Allen. And I know you and you know who I am. And you're The Flash so she won't be able to hurt you ... much ... if she figures it out."

 "So concerned for my well being, Snart. I'm touched."

 "So? Will you, Barry Allen, be my boyfriend?"

 Barry contemplated this for a while. Snart did need his help, obviously, but weren't there other solutions for his problem? Could Barry offer them and avoid getting into trouble later? Yes, he definitely could. But then again, telling Lisa the truth wouldn't help - she wouldn't believe it. And telling her the mysterious boyfriend had broken up with Snart wouldn't help either. There was no way around it. Still, this didn't mean Barry couldn't have his fun.

 "Say please."

 "What?"

 "Say please and I might be your boyfriend."

 "You're a freaking child, Barry Allen." Snart looked at him in disbelieve. Then, he, much to Barry's surprise, got on his knees, took both of Barry's hands in his and looked up at him in such a pleading way, Barry had the feeling he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Leonard Snart - showing emotions and begging on his knees. Why didn't he have a camera?

 "Will you, Barry Allen, please be my boyfriend?"

 Barry laughed. "Yes, I will be your _fake_ boyfriend."

 Snart laughed, then hurriedly got up and then settled on Barry's couch. "So, how should we break this down? We obviously need matching stories, but we also need to discuss what we're doing if someone visits us. I'm guessing your family and friends won't know?"

 "Right. Um. We met in a supermarket and there was only one of the product left and you gave it to me? And afterwards we met in a coffee shop and we talked? We had lots to drink afterwards, went to a bar, and it was supposed to be a one-night-stand like always for you, but then it turned out differently and we ... I don't know ... fell in love? Um, why are you not saying anything?"

 "If we had Sex. Don't you think we should kiss in front of her?"

 "K-kiss? Um. Yeah. I guess. I - what?"

 "We should practice. And what about you being a badge?"

 "Uh. Once you told me who you were, I needed some time to progress the information. And. Huh. No. This doesn't make sense."

 "True. You're a badge, you know my face. The Flash had captured me once and I saw you there. Before I knew who you were."

 "Right. Lisa broke you out, right?"

 "Yeah. How-"

 "I figured." Barry huffed, scratching his neck. "So, how about I couldn't take it anymore and we fought. That was the time she teased you about a boyfriend and then I figured things out for myself and we ... got together? Made things serious? You know, with the whole ..."

 "Yeah. I get it. So. Should we kiss?"

 "Seems like we must. To convince her. A bit, not too much."

 "She must think that we're smitten, the way that story sounds."

 "When will she be here? I mean - when does she usually visit you?"

 "She's coming whenever she wants, tells me five minutes before or something."

 "So, anytime."

 "We should start."

 Barry gave Snart an awkward look. "Start?"

 "Getting the feeling. I don't know how to do this either. But it has to seem real."

 "Must we ... sleep together?"

 "No?"

 "Good."

 Snart chuckled. "Ok. Just ... holding hands at first. Second, cuddling. Third, kissing. Forth, kisses with ..."

 "Ok, ok, I got it! No further explanation needed."

 "Huh. Fifth would have been make-out sessions but I guess it will never exist. We could scare Lise with that for sure."

 Barry tried hard not to smile at the image that formed in his head.

 "Let's start. Give me your hand."

 Snart handed him his hand and they held on to each other for a while. Snart glanced at the TV. "You do have Netflix, don't you?"

 They ended up watching Prison Break, hands entwined.

 

 Barry woke up to a weird feeling on his back. Something - someone - pressed on him from behind. Barry turned in his bed and looked directly into Snart's face. Barry looked down on himself. He wore a shirt, check. And - he lifted up the cover and looked underneath it - also his boxers, second check.

 Nothing (bad) had happened, thank god.

 Snart moved beside him. "Mornin'," he greeted. "Morning," Barry said in return.

 They looked at each other for a few moments. Then Snart looked up to the ceiling and Barry got up from the bed. "I'm still in the same clothes as I was yesterday," he mumbled, sniffing his arms. "Ugh, gross."

 An unfamiliar sound then broke the silence. Barry turned to its source - Snart. Eyes wide open, mouth open just as wide, laughing. Laughing _at_ Barry.

 Barry blinked. "I'm gonna take a shower. Feel free to make coffee and whatever you want for breakfast, or whatever. You can have the shower after me, it might as well be your smell on me, you know?"

 "Barry, you do realize that I live next door?"

 Barry stared at him. "Well yes, asshole, I just tried to be nice."

 Snart smirked. "Go on, then. I'll be nice, too, and make breakfast."

 Barry sped to shower. When he came out, he was greeted by the smell of coffee and bread. Snart _had_ made breakfast, fresh toasted bread and plenty of spread stood on the table. He already sat, in a waiting position. "I also made eggs," Snart said, pointing at two egg cups and eggs covered in egg warmers.

 "Thanks," was all Barry managed to say, sitting down opposite him. "So, have you heard from Lisa?"

 "I asked her when she planned to come by when you were showering. She said she'll drop by next week, surprising enough she told me when."

 "Huh. You wanna shower?"

 "After breakfast."

 Barry nodded to himself. He reached for a bread and some marmalade.

 The ate in silence. Barry wanted to ask Snart more about his sister. Wanted to know more of what he had gotten himself into.

 "We need to talk about names," Snart said suddenly.

 Barry stared. "You planning on a baby or what?"

 Snart looked like he wondered why Barry even managed to graduate. "No. Names we call each other. You can hardly call me Snart or Cold and I cannot call you Scarlet or Red."

 "I can call you Cold. I know, remember?"

 Now he looked like he had bitten on a lemon. "Don't push it, kid."

 "Don't call me kid."

 "That name will go on the list."

 "Hopefully the one with the forbidden ones."

 Snart's smile told him that it was just gonna be the other way around. "Come on, when we want to quit our relationship-"

 " _Fake_ relationship-"

 "- right _fake_ relationship, we'll need to fight. First small, then bigger fights."

 "Ok. It goes on the list, but use it only to tease and not all the time."

 "Course, _kid_."

 "Oh, go to hell."

 Snart laughed again. His laugh was pretty in a way. Unfamiliar, but pretty.

 Barry shook his head to get rid of the thought. "I'll be calling you Cold, then. I'll make the list."

 He quickly got his phone and made a list. "Any other suggestions?"

 "Barry and Len."

 "Len, huh? OK."

 He typed the names in. "I think this is enough. We don't need something like 'bear' or 'cutie'. That's totally kitschy anyway."

 "I'll call you dear. And you can call me that, too, if you like. We need nice names."

 "OK. Um. How about Love? I don't know if that's too much -"

 "I would never say that, but you might. It would make sense. I guess I'm going to take a shower now."

 Barry nodded, typing in the names.

 Then he cleaned the table and the kitchen, got on the sofa - it was still very early, too early to head to work - and turned on Netflix, zapping through the movies.

 Snart - Len, he corrected himself - came in, wearing the same clothes as earlier. "I'm gonna change in my apartment. You have fun. When do you come home from work?"

 "Flash business, there's no time I can tell you where I would be able to be here for sure."

 "Then text me." He grabbed Barry's phone from the kitchen table - he must have left it there when he cleaned the kitchen - and typed something in.

 "You give me your number?"

 "Not my work phone."

 "So you give me your private number." Barry felt a smirk start to spread on his face.

 "Stop looking so smug, or I might delete the number again. Don't try to track me with that."

 "I wouldn't dream of it since you're my - _fake_ \- boyfriend."

 "Why am I putting up with you."

 "Something about Lisa?"

 "Thanks for remembering me."

 "You could always try the truth, you know?"

 Snart shot him a last very Cold-like look and left the apartment.

 Barry felt somehow light-headed, for some reason.


	2. Chapter 2

Barry ran to work and was - as usual - too late. He'd watched some very interesting documentary and somehow lost track of time - he'd looked up ten minutes past his beginning of work, flashing to some alley near the police station and running inside, trying to seem out of breath.

 He had several cases to work on. And not much time.

 Singh greeted him with his usual "Too late, Allen!" and it was left to Barry to walk up the stairs and feel embarrassed and angry at himself.

 How did he always manage to make a fool out of himself? Most times he meant good,  meant to help. And then, out of no comprehensible reason, he just walked straight and confident in some sandtrap, drowning in the feeling of embarrassment creeping up his spine.

 He hated it.

 

 It was seven o'clock, which meant Barry could finally leave. But only more work was ahead of him. He walked into S.T.A.R. Labs, greeted his friends and five seconds later he was in his suit saving people from a burning house and trapping bandits.

 He did feel some thrill to it, adrenalin pumping through his veins. But he couldn't find fulfillment in it, not today. He didn't feel joy. He felt like it was his duty, something that needed to be done because there'd be no one else who'd do it for him. No one else was The Flash.

 Just why had he moved?

 It didn't change a thing, but give him one more problem: Snart.

 Whom he would have to see this evening. He wanted to go away and never come back.

 His whole situation was so impossibly stupid, it made him wanna laugh and cry at the same time.

 He decided to face his fate - eventually. After thinking about going to Iris and Joe, spending the evening with them. But no, no, he had to do it, he had to. Or he'd never get rid of his problems, this never-ending list of what he had to do. Every day came with a different list and Barry realized now - that was what he was really running from. His duties as a hero, a friend, an enemy, a badge. No matter where he went or who he was with, everyone always expected something from him.

 He just wanted peace and rest.

 So he did what he had to do, hoping for it all to end.

 He knocked on Snart's door. Snart opened and looked him up and down. Then he smiled his special smile. "You're still in your suit, Scarlet."

 Had Barry mentioned sandtraps before?

 "Uh. Just a second."

 He flashed into his apartment, changed, came back and -"Your shirt's turned around."

 Barry didn't bother to look down on himself, he just demonstratively walked past Snart into the apartment and then - just as pointedly - closed the door behind himself.

 "Shut up. We need to work on calling each other differently than that. And we need to get to the point of cuddling. Remember?"

 Snart - Len, Barry reminded himself, walked into the living room and sat down on his sofa. The apartment looked just like Barry's, only a little different when it came to style. His kitchen was, too, right next to the door, open, with a table in front of it and the living room was straight ahead with a wide sofa and a TV that hang from the wall. The bedroom could be entered from a door at the right wall between the kitchen and the living room and right from the bedroom one could enter the bathroom, a door on the right wall, where also the bed was placed, do when one lied in it, one was facing a wall with a huge window. On the opposite wall from the bedroom's door, there was a huge wardrobe built into the wall.

 Barry really took a liking to this very practical idea of an apartment, it was New York at least and apartments never were cheap or gigantic, unless you were very, very rich.

 Sn- Len's walls were white and his furniture was mostly black or blue, some was white. No warm colors, a few plants here and there. No photos, no personal stuff. And it was so _clean_ in here, as clean as no one he knew kept his apartment clean - well, no one but Len.

 "Admiring the view?"

 Barry looked at Len. "It's nice. Very clean."

 "Must be."

 "Yeah, I suppose."

 Barry stared down at the furniture. So clean, so impersonal. The furniture of a thief. A thief who now was his fake boyfriend.

 "Do you want to watch a movie?"

 "Huh?"

 "Still fascinated? Come here, watch a movie with me."

 Barry sighed and sat down next to Len, their hands entwining a little awkwardly.

 "This is gonna be so weird," Snart said, saying Barry's thoughts out loud.

 "Yes, it is," Barry agreed.

 

 They watched TV - again. The movie was often paused - Barry totally did not know what it was about - something with Aliens and Invasions probably because he told Len he felt like watching one of these types of movies and Len had picked one from the Genre and it has to be like this - and he didn't care. They talked about the best way to fool Lisa, worked on their story and worked at holding hands.

 Then, Len's phone suddenly rang. He went into his bedroom to talk to someone on the phone. When he came back, his face was ashen-pale.

 "What's going on? Who's called?" Barry asked although he could see the answer written all over Len's face.

 The fact, that he seemed too shocked to talk.

 That he just sat down next to Barry slowly and just as slowly turned towards him, his eyes spread a little too wide for calmness.

"Lisa called." Len let it sound like the world just had ended. "She'll stop by tomorrow. She says she's too eager to meet my new boyfriend to wait."

 Barry sighted. He had already guessed it, but now that it was spoken out loud it became reality. It became a real threat that hung above his head, ready to chop his head off like a guillotine would.

 "Didn't you say this would be a fun game?"

 "Shut up, Scarlet, we have to practice."

 "If that's what you say, _hunny_."

 Len stared at him. "Don't call me hunny."

 "Why not, hunny?"

 "Because I hate it. Does that answer your question?"

 Barry had to bite his lip to prevent himself from calling Len something that could really get his head chopped off.

 "Where do we begin?"

 "Phases. So, what were they again? Phase one, holding hands. Phase two, cuddling. Third, kissing. Remember phase four?" Len looked really smug right now.

 "Shut. Up," Barry managed through clenched teeth.

 Len burst out laughing. It was still weird to hear him do that since normally he was so cold and closed-up all the time.

 "So, I guess we should start phase two, then?"

 Barry would stop counting the times he sighted these days, apparently.

 

 They awkwardly held hands, they even more awkwardly cuddled. "This will never convince your sister," Barry said, trying to breathe in some direction. He was pressed closely to Lens chest, which was extra tense. Every inch of both their bodies was tense, like each of them was holding on a bomb that could explode any second.

 "This is slightly uncomfortable," Barry stated.

 "Oh, you really think so? I never would have guessed," Len replied sarcastically.

 "Let's loosen up a bit."

 "Yeah."

 They both moved a bit. Now, Barry was rather lying in Len's arms, than being crushed by them.

 "Better."

 "Yeah, it really is."

 They stayed like that in silence for a while.

 "This is so weird," Len announced.

 "Huh?" Barry was startled. This was so out of character for Len.

 "Don't you think it is? I just ask you to be my fake boyfriend and you somehow immediately say yes. I thought this would be easy - I mean, to fool my sister, with you, someone I already know. But you're The Flash, and here we are cuddling!" Len definitely had a crisis coming along.

"Calm down it's not real!"

 "Yes, I know, and this is what makes it so difficult." Len sighed. "I never should've asked you. We will never fool her like this."

 "So, we need to adjust to each other. We need to seem like we're in love, so let's just get -"

 "-what, get used to the feeling? Come on, Barry, this is not you." Len looked directly into Barry's face. "This is very certainly not you."

 "Okay, and this is where you go crazy, right?"

 Len still stared.

 "I thought of everything! I help people, Len, and I didn't see another opportunity for you, so I said yes. We don't have to fall in love or anything, we only need to get Lisa believe you have a boyfriend, it doesn't matter that it's me! I can keep your secret. It's fine, trust me, it is."

 Len sighed. He must sight as much as Barry does, these days. "Just the angst. I don't want Lise to find out who you are, she'd kill you. And I am the only one who's allowed to do that, so I won't let her."

 "Okay. So, when's she arriving again?"

 "Tomorrow, anytime."

 "It's already ten."

 They stared at one another. Barry silently relished in it, because this was most certainly the last time in his life, that he was going to see Captain Cold with a double-chin.

 "We cannot let the kissing seem awkward." The worried frown on Len's forehead was very unfamiliar. He barely seemed worried at all most of the time. Where were they - right, kissing. Ugh.

 "Ugh, I shouldn't have said a word," Barry whined.

 Len shrugged. "Well, you did. And this is what you get."

 "Let's sit up."

 They both sat up and faced each other.

 Barry tried hard not to scrub his head. "So, should I start, or do you wanna start?"

 "Shut up, you make it even more awkward than it already is."

 "Right, sorry."

 They looked at each other. Then, they slowly moved forward. Barry's mind raced. He so not wanted to kiss him. Well, it could be interesting, Len's a man at least - ugh, no, I certainly don't want to kiss him, that's ugh, he-he's coming closer, any second now, I do not want this, please, why did I have to say yes? no-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I am so sorry, it took me ages to write this. Sorry for the cliffhanger at the end, I'll try to write the third chapter today or today and tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed. If you did, please leave kudos and a comment below :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this reaches you just now. I couldn't log into the archive anymore, I have no idea what happened.  
> At first, I had a writer's blog and couldn't write the 4th chapter (it got really short in the end, sorry for that). Then, I wanted to write the 5th chapter in order to make up for the short 4th chapter, which I completed on Sunday, really late at night, so I went to bed and then over read it on Monday. I tried to upload both chapters then, but I couldn't log in. Then I got sick soon after, pulled through school and now I have a fever and coughing fits (feels like I have them every minute). Being sick is boring (good thing when you have a writer's block) so I wrote and wrote and wrote, and this is the result!  
> I hope these chapters make it up to you!  
> BR

 Len's lips were surprisingly soft.

 That was the first thought that got to Barry's mind.

 Len was a really good kisser, with soft lips brushing his own, pressing with just enough pressure. And those hands, Len's hands were softly around Barry's face, holding him like he was precious to him. Barry sighed happily into the kiss, ready to drown in the feeling.

 And then it was over.

 Len looked at Barry, Barry looked at Len.

 Slowly, Barry's mind arose from the haze the kiss had put it in. His thoughts got clearer and suddenly, what he had done just now jumped his face like a rat would've done, bit him and laughed at him horribly. Oh, how stupid he was, kissing his own arch nemesis and actually _enjoying. it!

 "We haven't just kissed, have we?" Barry asked, hoping silently for Len to say: 'No' and laughing at him for some daydream he's had.

 Len sighed. "Well, I thought that was kind of the plan."

 "Yeah, yes I know, but it's so surreal. We're not supposed to kiss we're -"

 "- supposed to fight, I know." Len's voice was full of resignation. He looked up at Barry and Barry looked back at him.

 They stared, then both quickly looked away. "We cannot kiss without making it awkward, can we?" Barry asked the windows.

 "No," Len answered the opposite wall.

 "What were we thinking." Barry turned to Len and put an accusing finger to his chest. "What were you thinking asking me to be your boyfriend."

 "What were you thinking to agree?" Len shot back, angry sarcasm leaking through the resignation.

 "Ugh, don't counter question me, Len."

 Len first looked like he was gonna respond rather heatedly, then became the ice cold man Barry had gotten to know. "Whatever, Barry." He looked tired. Not tired as in he needed a good nap, but tired as in he didn't want to think about a single thing right now. To not deal with problems, to not talk to Barry. Especially to not talk to Barry.

 Silence settled over them, gripping them, tugging on them, dragging them apart from each other. Making what they build up the past few days unimportant. They were in danger of becoming strangers once more. Strangers? The Flash and Captain Cold were no strangers. Barry closed his eyes, realization flowing over him. The Flash and Captain Cold were no strangers. But Barry and Len were, not long ago. And they could be once again.

 "Let's sleep, it's rather late," Barry said eventually.

 Len nodded. They quickly got out of their clothes, just leaving the boxers on and then laid down. Barry whispered a good-night. All that Len did in response was to put off the lights.

 

 In the next morning, Barry was - again - pressed to a body.

 He sighed and shuffled closer to the warm body in front of him. He breathed in the scent and hummed. It smelled so much like Len.

  _Len._

 Barry was far from him in seconds, hurriedly getting out of bed and staring down at his companion, who now opened his eyes.

 "What is that noise?" mumbled Len, still half asleep and blinking sleep out of his eyes.

  Barry reached for his trousers and put them on."What do you-"

 clank!

 They both froze. Len sped out of bed and grabbed his shirt to pull it over his head.

 "That's on our door, isn't it?" Barry asked, grabbing his shirt himself and pulling it over his head.

 "Yes," answered Len. He pulled his trousers on. "But who would make such a noise on my door, when it's barely -" he checked his clock "- nine in the morning?"

 Realization spread across both of their faces.

 "Oh my god, that's your-," Barry began, ruffling his hair.

 "-sister, yes, that's Lisa what the hell is she doing here this early?"

 Len ran into the kitchen, quickly getting the coffee can out of the coffee machine and pulling both of them two coffees. Thank god there was still something in there, cold, but an excuse nonetheless.

 "Barry, can you please make the kitchen table look like we've actually used it this morning?" Len whispered.

 He didn't need to say that twice. In seconds, the table was full of bread and spread, two plates and knives on opposite sides of the table.

  "No eggs this time, but it will do," Barry mumbled.

 Instead of sitting down at the table and actually eat, they stood right next to it, facing the door like it's something that'll burn if they touch it.

 "Does she have keys?" Barry breathed, fear thick in his voice.

 "No, you think I want her to come in here whenever she pleases? Of course, she doesn't," Len whispered back.

 Suddenly, the shuffling stopped.

 "She's stopped," Barry whispered. "Why has she stopped?"

 Len just shook his head. Barry returned his attention to the door again, which was being opened - slowly, but surely.

 A hand - Len's hand - turned Barry's head towards Len.

 "Just go along with it, Barry, please," Len whispered and then pulled him in and - kissed him.

 Again.

 It was a longer and more passionate kiss than it had been this morning, which was probably one of the reasons why Barry didn't break the kiss immediately.

 He was drowning in the feeling, but at the same time, he was quite aware of his surroundings.

 He heard the door opening, he felt Len's hands on his back, in his hair, felt how Len's pullover felt under his fingers - since when were they there? And he heard Lisa, who said: "I failed at finding the key you gave me, dear brother, but when I think about it, maybe it's because I haven't gotten one in the first place. Sorry for the broken lock, I will _not_ pay for it."

 Barry heard her close the door, felt Len licking his lips. He couldn't help a little moan which was safely - and gladly - kissed away by Len's lips.

 His head was full of wadding and he couldn't think, couldn't rationalize the fact that Len was kissing him in front of his sister, Lisa - who had come through the door, who had - who was -

 "Yeah, right, didn't want to disturb you or anything," he heard Lisa say and finally they broke apart.


	4. Chapter 4

Barry stared at Len.

 How could he, without warning, without telling him what he would do, this-

 Barry couldn't believe it.

 Yet here they were, Lisa Snart in front of them, wearing the same smug smile as the one Len sometimes wore on her lips.

 She was beautiful, golden hair falling in waves down her shoulders, her eyes sparkling with joy and a face that one could only describe as beautiful.

 Not that Barry would go out with her.

 He wouldn't ever go out with her, never.

 That would be ... he couldn't find a word for it.

 "Hello, sister," Len smiled. "That's what you get for breaking into my apartment."

 "So we can redo that? Pleasure, wait for a second, I'll quickly get back behind the door ... oops, that's broken." She made a pouting face. "Sorry."

 Len still smiled, but it seemed more forced than before.

 Lisa turned to Barry, walking towards him with a stretched out hand to greet him. "And you must be Len's boyfriend. Sorry, what's your name again?"

 "Um, Barry Allen. Pleasure to meet you." He hesitantly took her hand.

 She shook it and smiled a wide, white smile. "Likewise." She turned to Len and put an arm on his left shoulder since his right was right next to Barry's left one. "So what will we three do today? Since it's Saturday I was thinking we could do something together to get to know each other." She smiled brightly. "How about your friends, Barry? Do you think they'd be interested in doing something together?"

 Barry felt all blood draining from his face. "Um, actually, I haven't told them, yet. It's not like I don't want them to meet Len, but you know, um. I'm kinda not in the situation in which I can go around telling everyone who my boyfriend is."

 Lisa frowned. "Huh? Why's that?"

 "Better we all sit down for that," Len said.

 They all went into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

 "So, will anyone of you begin or do I have to push you to talk to me?" Lisa asked, her voice in a slightly annoyed tone, rolling her eyes.

 It was Len who spoke up then. "Lise, you know that I didn't want to tell you about Barry and me at first. That has a reason." He looked at Barry and then at his hands, folding them in his lap and leaning back into the sofa, sighting. "Barry is a badge."

 Lisa stared at the both of them. Barry looked at Len, uncertainty shimmering in his eyes. Then, out of nowhere, Lisa broke out laughing. "This is too good," she wiped her eyes. "Haha, sorry. Oh my - I - oh man, this can only happen to you, Lenny. To no one else." She steadied herself slowly. Still, a smile was tugging on her lips. "So tell me. How does a badge happen to date the most wanted criminal in Central City?"

 Oh, you know, Barry thought sarcastically, you're The Flash and one day decide to fake to go out with your arch nemesis to get his sister off his back. That's basically it.

 "I'm not actually a badge. I'm a scientist in the Criminal and Forensic Science Division of the CCPD. We, um, actually, we met in a supermarket. We both wanted the same product and Len said I could have it. I recognized him and to be honest, I wanted to bring him behind bars. After all, I knew he killed people and he's a thief. So I asked him to go to a coffee shop with me and there we talked a lot and well, he was pretty nice. We got drunk at some point and went to a bar where ... things happened." Barry's ears felt hot. They had approved the story he'd come up with, but it still wasn't the best lie.

 Lisa seemed to take his red phase as a sign of embarrassment from what he'd said last since she chuckled and boxed her brother in the rips. Playfully, Len held his ribs and mumbled some insults in his sister's direction.

 "That's not everything, though," Len said, taking over the talking from there.

 "What else is there?" Lisa asked.

 "The reason why I absolutely didn't want to tell you is not that he's a badge. But that we had a pretty big fight because of who I am and who he is and how our relationship can work out."

 "That's on me," Barry said. "I felt guilty for dating a criminal while I practically am a cop, and I felt especially shitty when it came to family dinners and I had to lie to my family about who I'm with and what I was doing while I was away for so long."

 Lisa nodded. "I understand your dilemma and I apologize for teasing you back then, Len. I'm your sister and I want you to be happy. Had I known you were close to breaking up back then, I wouldn't have pushed so much."

 "It's fine," Len put her off.

 "So since when are you even going out, then? Longer than 2 months?"

 "Two and a half."

 "What have you been doing in those two months?"

 "We baked. Um. We couldn't really go outside or something since anyone could've crossed our ways."

 "We had movie nights," Barry threw in. He smiled. "We watched Frozen, too. I was annoying Len so long until he finally gave in and we watched it."

 Len smiled, too. It was a fake memory, though. They've never done that, sadly. But Len had seen the movie before, so lying with this movie couldn't be backfiring on them if Lisa decided to refer to it.

 "And what else? Other movies?" Now she was clearly interested.

 Barry smiled. "I had a lot of work coming lately so this kinda cut down to breakfast and such things, then I head out to work. My family often wants me to visit them after work, so I also don't have time then. I work until seven, then go to my family and come home at ten."

 "Where do you live? Since you two eat breakfast together, it must be pretty near." Then, Lisa smiled mischievously at them. "Or do you two live here together? Is that why I ain't got any keys?"

 "No! God, Lisa, you have no keys because I don't want you to visit me every single day!"

 "Huh. That's not very nice, brother. Anyways, where do you live, Barry?"

 "Next door?" Barry replied carefully. "We found that out the second time we met. Since we didn't know each other that much, Len was to come over to my place rather than me coming to his because I could've still sold him out to the police and to be quite honest, I didn't trust myself enough to say for a hundred percent that I would not do it. So I send him the address and he was like knocking on my door a minute later. First I thought he stalked me or something-"

 "Yeah, that was pretty funny. He totally freaked for no reason and then I was like: I will learn all about you, Barry Allen. Don't think you can outsmart me, here. Once I know your habits and trust me, you won't know mine, I will never let you go. You'll be mine. Once and for all." Len burst out laughing.

 "I don't really know if it went that way, hunny, but if you say so..."

 Len shot him a look. "Sorry, love. But it was like that."

 Barry rolled his eyes. A hand came down his shoulder and patted him there. "He can be really childish sometimes, Barry," Lisa said, pity on her face. "Don't let it get to you."

 "Yes, I know," Barry answered.

 "What are you two talking about?" Len watched them closely.

 "Oh, nothing, love. You know, things." Barry reached out a hand and took Len's hand in his, entwining their fingers. Len kept it that way, even pulled Barry closer to him into his arms.

 "Liar," Len said, but Barry heard the smile in his voice.

 "You're actually really cute together, you know that?" Lisa said thoughtfully.

 "That's all Barry's doing," Len stated and kissed Barry's ear. He immediately jumped and held his ear. A blush spread on his face.

 "What? It's not the first time I'm doing that," Len laughed. Barry narrowed his eyes. Like hell it was.

 "And you know I hate it when you do that."

 "Come on, you love it." Len leaned forward to press a kiss to the same spot but Barry put a hand between, so he only could kiss his hand or back away. Len did the latter.

 "Drama queen," he chuckled.

 "Hello, I'm still here," Lisa said, winking to emphasize her words.

 "Hello, Lisa, yes, we haven't forgotten," Len replied, unwavering keeping his eyes on Barry.

 She just rolled her eyes at her brother's stubbornness. "So, can we do something fun? It's Saturday. Weekend, yay! And if Barry doesn't want to spend time with his family today, and obviously can't invite his friends, since they would all get my brother and me behind bars -"

 "Sorry," mumbled Barry.

 "- it's fine - I thought we could go ice skating."

 "Ice skating."

 "Yes, ice skating, Len. I love ice skating and I want to go there with someone. Since no one wants to so much as imagine Mick standing on ice, I can only ask my brother and his cute boyfriend to go there with me."

 Barry tried to ignore the fact that she thought he was cute, and when he was The Flash she thought he was ... he didn't even want to know what she thought he was then. Soon dead, probably.

 "So, what do you say? Want to go ice skating with me? "

 "It's Barry's decision," Len said.

 Hey, thank you very much, Barry thought sarcastically. Asshole.

 "Yeah, why not. I think this could be fun."

 He silently thought that seeing Len on ice could be more than fun to see. And from then on he could use a new nickname. He had Ice princess in mind, but he was sure he could come up with something better. Like he said: He could also have his fun in here, not only Len.

 Lisa cheered. "Then it's settled! Let's go, boys!" Barry willingly got up and looked at Len, who looked like someone had told him Christmas just got canceled.

 "What - now?" Len's facial expression was priceless. Barry had not been wrong. This was a fantastic idea.

 "Yes, now, love. Come on, stand up," Barry said and helped Len up. "It's going to be fun!"

 Len grumbled something but got into his parka and his shoes. Barry got into his shoes, too, but had to change the jacket. Therefore they stopped for his apartment next door so he could get his jacket - and a bit of money. He checked if his keys and his phone were safely in his pockets before he went out of the apartment and locked the door behind him.

 "Let's go."

 Lisa grinned and linked arms with Len, who took Barry's hand in turn.

 They then left the house and got to Len's car.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back again - with a new chapter! Finally, I know. I couldn't focus on school work anymore, so I thought I'd the better focus on this fanfic for a while to clear my head. Thankfully, that led to finally finishing the next chapter. Let me know what you think :) Please leave kudos, too!

 The drive was mostly silent. When they finally arrived at the ice rink, it was already half past one.

 Barry's stomach grumbled. "Can we have something to eat first?" he asked.

 "There's some food stand inside, you can get French fries there," Lisa replied. "I think I'll also take some. Len, you, too?"

 Len turned off the engine and unbuckled his seat belt. "Sure."

 They opened their doors and went to the ice rink together.

 After they got their shoes - Barry's were grey and some odd shade of green, Lisa had her own and Len got black ones - and their tickets, they went to eat at the food stand. The French fries were good, for a food stand in an ice rink, and Barry and Len made fun of stuffing food in each other's mouths. Lisa stood next to them calling them cute and idiots and grinning proudly.

 Then they got on the ice. There was music playing and lights dancing on the surface of the ice.

 It had been ages since Barry was ice skating with Joe and Iris. His legs shook as he stood on the ice and he held on to the railing, pulling himself up whenever he was in danger of falling. Len and Lisa seemed to do this more often, since Lisa was past Barry for the third time, rotating gracefully on the ice. Len was beside Barry, but he also seemed to have no problem at all to stand on the ice and to move on it ever so gracefully as his sister did. His feet shifted like he didn't even have to think about it.

 Len caught Barry staring and smiled at him. "What is it?"

 "Huh? Nothing, I was just thinking that you can do this very well."

 Len chuckled. "Lisa and I went ice skating a lot of times when we were little. And we have been doing so since then. Not every day of course, but every month one time or so. It's a tradition."

 Barry stared. It's a tradition. "Lisa invited me to come by when you do something that counts as a tradition?" He normally hated it when any new friends came by, coming along to traditional things between him and Iris or Joe or Caitlin and Cisco. It made it less traditional. It took something from it.

 "Don't worry. I don't really think she sees it as a tradition, and the fact that she invited you to come along is a good thing." He smiled _his_ smile. It became really familiar to Barry, crazy as it is. "She accepts you and if we want our plan to work, we better look like a couple." He took Barry's hand. "So stop worrying and let me teach you how to skate properly."

 An uncontrollable grin spread on Barry's face and he held on to Len's hand more fiercely, letting himself be dragged further on the ice and there they were, side by side, hand in hand, skating on the ice. Len told Barry to lean forward a bit, so Barry did, and suddenly it became easier. He leaned into the curves and whenever he was in danger of falling, Len held him up.

 It was nearly as good as running.

 After a while, Len let go of Barry's hand so he could try to skate on his own. Without Len's steady hand keeping him from falling, Barry felt more insecure and had to struggle a lot to not fall on his ass. It was a wonder he had managed to stay on his feet for so long, actually.

 Experimentally, he moved his legs. Right, left, right and left. He couldn't help the smile that spread on his face. He could actually do it without Len helping him.

 "See? It's not so bad," Len said and handed him his hand again. "But we don't want you to fall, do we?"

 Barry said nothing in response and just took Len's hand. Once again, Lisa skated past them, her golden hair flowing through the air. She turned around, winked, and sped off.

 It was hard to believe that the man next to Barry and the woman before him were criminals.

 But if a person who saw them would know who all of them were, they wouldn't believe it, even if they knew what they saw was true, Barry thought. His whole situation was too insane to believe.

 

 After 2 hours on the ice, Barry felt like he couldn't take another step.

 So they sat down on a bench that stood before the icy surface. A groan escaped his lips when he stretched out his legs.

 "Already weary?" Len chuckled as he sat down next to him.

 Lisa was still on the ice, ever so gracefully twisting and turning, floating over the ice as if it was the easiest thing to do.

 "After two hours? Yeah, I guess so."

 "Aren't you never out of breath?"

 "Of course I am. I didn't use my powers, and I don't think your sister won't suspect anything if I stay on the ice for four hours or something as a beginner and don't even flinch."

 Len grinned. "Well, that's about right. Do you wanna get back on the ice in some time or not?"

 "No, I think I've had enough for today. It's harder than it looks."

 Len's grin grew wider. Then, like a switch has been turned, his face became utter serious.

 "I haven't thought I could laugh with an enemy."

 He stood up before Barry could respond, or react, really, Barry just sat there - paralyzed.

 Len didn't think they weren't enemies anymore, did he?

 Did Len think they were still enemies?

 After bringing him here - to a place where he went with his sister, a place that held memories, a place that had become a tradition, somewhere where everyone knew their faces (but obviously not who they really were - oblivious, ain't it?) - and Len thought they were still the enemies they were a week ago?

 A week?

 The timeline couldn't fit in Barry's head, but this was what it was - they had become something else seemingly overnight.

But then again, they had never been especially awfully far apart, Barry had cared for him in some way, hadn't he?

 Otherwise, he would never have agreed to any of this.

 Barry shook his head. He would get this over with and - let's face it - they would "break up" anyway.

 

 "Hey." It was Lisa, sitting down next to him on the bench, smiling a small smile.

 "What's up?" Barry tried to sound cheerful - he failed miserably.

 "I wanted to ask you the same thing. Earlier, you were all happy and now you're just sitting there, deep in thought, and Len is still on the ice, just as deep in thought. And both of that just after you two were talking."

 "Bring it on, Sherlock, what have you come up with?" Barry asked, smiling an exhausted smile.

 "Huh, Sherlock doesn't _come up_ with anything, Sherlock _knows_."

 Barry let out a husky laugh. "Woah, that makes you sound like a total psychopath."

 It only took Lisa's grin for him to notice what he's done.  "I'm not a psychopath," she said, slowly folding her hands just under her chin. Barry did the same and they faced each other.

 "I'm a high-functional sociopath-" Lisa began,

 "-with your number", they said unison. Then they grinned widely, showing off their best Sherlock-grin and then breaking into laughter.

"You should have a little more respect for my abilities," Lisa said, still giggling a bit. She then smiled and boxed him on the shoulder.

 Then she suddenly got all serious again. "I think you both aren't very sure about this. All of this," her voice was very severe. Barry wasn't sure if he liked those sudden mood-swings, both from Lisa and Len, "and I think we need to fix it. So stand up."

 "Lisa-"

 "I said, _stand up_ , so do it."

 Barry obliged. He stood and let himself be dragged toward the ice, steps on it once again and be dragged to Len. Lisa pushed him into Len's arms, who caught him on reflex and steadied him.

 "Woah, Lise, take it easy."

 "You two talk it out now so we can have the beautiful day I imagined," she said, glamorously sliding away.

 "Okay..." Barry didn't know what to say, he just looked after her.

 He looked at Len, who just shook his head. "Don't look at me, I don't even try to talk to her when she gets like that."

 Barry couldn't help it - he laughed.

 Len's head shot up. "What are you laughing at?"

 "No-nothing. It's just-" Barry tried to catch his breath "-the two of you are so ridiculously clueless, sweet and _normal_. It's just - you know, you are supposed to be all grumpy and evil."

 "What - you want me to turn into the Batman version of Grumpy Cat?"

 "I do believe Batman is Grumpy cat itself, you know. In disguise."

 This left Len laughing too - or giggling, to be more correct.

 Barry found it to be very cute - once again.

 "And Batman isn't evil."

 "You know, people are actually arguing over that," Len smiled. "I was going for the grumpy part anyway."

 "So what - you really believe you are evil?"

 "I am a villain, Barry. And not only that, I am a supervillain. I am the incarnation of evil to your own adoptive father. What did you think I'd believe?"

 Barry looked Len in the eyes. He searched for the lie he knew he wouldn't find - the joke, the sarcasm - anything. But what he found was only deep believe in the words he himself could not believe.

 "No. No, I don't believe that. You're not evil."

 "Barry," Len laughed breathlessly, "you have no idea how evil I am."

 "No. I think the only thing you are is very, very sure that you cannot escape the fate your father has raised you into believing that it was your destination."

 They both stared into each other's eyes. The tension between them got nearly visible, then Len chose to break eye-contact.

 "We're not talking about this now," he decided. His voice was firm. "I think we owe Lisa the day she wanted to have with us and the more we look like a couple, the better."

 Oh. Right. Their fake relationship.

 How could he have forgotten?

"Right. Let's hug and kiss and go to Lisa. It's getting late. Maybe we should go home soon."

 Len nodded. He opened his arms and Barry let himself sink into them. They held onto each other for a while, then broke apart and pressed their lips together in a lingering kiss.

 Len took Barry's hand and they went to catch up with Lisa who was watching them from the railing.

 "You two good again?"

 "Yeah, we made up," Barry lied, looking over to Len, who met his eyes and nodded. He could see that he thought exactly the same thing as Barry did.

 This conversation was not over yet.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)  
> So, I know it’s been three months (looks at the date when the story was last updated). I’m sorry. It has been a rough time at school for me because I had a few presentations that were very important (they counted just like a grade I’d get for an exam). And on top of that, I had to write my seminar paper (I’m in a course). Like I said, no piece of cake. Exams here and there, homework as always, equals me not getting anything done for this. This is unfortunate because I didn’t have any script for the chapter you will read and had to re-read everything again.  
> So, as I said, I’m sorry. There’s another presentation coming up though and I have to learn the text for two plays (Hobby at school and school-subject), time’s tight, so I gotta stop rambling.  
> Have fun reading this part! I hope you haven’t lost all hope regarding an update yet and stay tuned in the future! Holidays are coming and I hope to write some script there :D Leave a comment and a kudo if you liked it!

 Barry hated the silence.

 Len and he had driven Lisa to a park she said she’d walk home from – Barry was a badge after all and if Len and he would break up and he’d know Lisa’s home address, he could give it to the cops – and had then driven to their own apartments.

 They had walked the stairs to their apartments very slowly and silently. Barry’s only thought on the way had been whether he should enter his own apartment or get into Len’s – in the end, they had gotten to Len’s apartment.

 Or rather, Len had gone to his apartment in dead silence, the type that made Barry’s hackles stand up and his insides twist, and had walked straight in. It was only thanks for Barry’s abilities that he managed to get inside.

 The vibe had changed since their conversation on the ice. Barry could feel it in the air – a coldness; an unspoken dread.

 “I’m tired. Go back to your apartment, Barry,” Len finally said, walking into the bedroom.

 “You owe me a talk,” Barry said, walking into the room after him.

 “About what? Me being a super villain, being the person your father, your friends, literally the whole city, would want to see behind bars? And here you are, playing my fake boyfriend, standing in my apartment, not telling them a thing.”

 Barry shook his head. “How is this about me now?”

 Len span around. “You want me to change,” he fired at Barry. It came out of thin air – their discussion hadn’t been about that, had it now been?

**_"No. No, I don't believe that. You're not evil."_ **

**_"Barry," Len laughed breathlessly, "you have no idea how evil I am."_ **

**_"No. I think the only thing you are, is very, very sure that you cannot escape the fate your father has raised you into believing that it was your destination."_ **

 Barry sighed. It was true. He had been meaning that. It hadn’t been something that he had made gist of their discussion, but it had been lurking in the back of his head. “And why would that matter to you? We’re in a fake relationship, Len, a relationship that’s literally based on lies. And I don’t want you behind bars-“

 “Hell you do,” Len snarled.

 Barry hesitated, irritated by the interruption. “No, I don’t want you behind bars, I mean it.”

 “Barry, we were enemies a week ago.”

 “I – no, we-we weren’t! Not really, you must’ve noticed that! I care, I hadn’t agreed if I didn’t. What would make me stick my neck out for a so-called enemy? Why would I do that?”

 “Are _you_ asking _me_ about _your_ intentions? I don’t know them, Barry!”

 “Then _I_ will ask _you_ about _your_ intentions, Len. Why did you ask me to be your fake boyfriend?”

 “Lisa –“

 “You already told me that.”

 “That’s the point _! I knew you_. You knew my secret. It was easy.”

 Barry stared at him. **_It was easy_** _._ “Yes. You know me. That’s the point, Len. You didn’t only know me, you trusted me.”

 Len looked completely taken aback.

 “I did not,” he protested, but it was a weak protest. “I-“

 Barry slowly shook his head. “You did. You trusted me. We are no enemies, Len. You know that. And you also know that you are not evil-“

 “Why would you care?” Len asked suddenly. “Why would you care if I thought that or did not?”

 “Like I said, we aren’t enemies. But we’re no friends either.”

 “Huh,” made Len, all tension drained from him. He looked tired.

 “Huh,” echoed Barry in return. “What’s happened?” Barry asked, feeling weak.

 “I know. This is so surreal,” Len said.

 Barry laughed nervously. “We cannot fight like this. We already sound like a couple.”

 Len sorted. “I hate to break it to you, Barry. But we are a couple.”

 “Fake couple,” Barry insisted.

Len smiled an evil, tiny smile – Captain Cold’s smile. “Yeah, you’re right.” He stared at his hands for a second or two, and then his gaze met Barry’s. “I think you’re interpreting here a bit, Barry. I’m just thinking this was a bad idea.”

 “What do you mean?” Barry really couldn’t keep up with Len’s sudden mood-changes.

 “I mean that this sort of relationship in our – as you so kindly pointed out – already confusing relationship between caring and hatred was a really bad idea.”

 “You don’t think I knew that when I said yes? Don’t you think I knew there was the dread of all of this blowing up in our faces? Believe me, I knew. But today went good, Lisa believed us. We had a great time, nothing extremely bad happened.”

 Len shook his head, turning back to the Len Barry had seen once before today – the tired, sad-looking Len. “What if she doesn’t believe us?” he asked, voice and eyes full of worry. “She knows me. Better than anyone Barry, she does. What if she knows who you are? She’d kill you.”

 “She won’t if we keep it as real as it can get,” Barry said, trying to lay confidence into his voice.

 Len made a presenting gesture with his arms – holding his palms op and moving his arms open. He said: “I’m open for suggestions. What we’ve been doing so far – that’s child’s play. Anyone could pull it off.”

 “That’s why we are taking it to the next level.”

 Len’s eyebrows wandered up to his hairline. “And how are we going to accomplish that?”

 “Don’t you want to go on a date with me?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)  
> I am so sorry this took so long :/ My presentation went well; I got out of the school year just fine (thankfully). I hope you guys can say the same! :D That this took so long has a reason – I finished the manuscript for this book! I think I mentioned that I want to make a series out of this back in the days and I will do just that. So naturally it didn’t take me this long to come up with this book and its ending. I came up with the two following books, too. So I hope it’s going to go a little faster from here. I have holidays right now and I’m not as busy, so the odds are good that I’ll make it to the second book this summer. Sorry for letting you wait, I hope you enjoy! And btw – I noticed my British taking over in this Chapter (and was too lazy to fix it) so don’t get confused by that :)

Len’s facial expression was priceless.

 “You want to go on a date with me? What the hell, Barry?”

 Barry felt a grin spread on his face. “Well, we did tell Lisa that we like baking. I should actually know how to do that properly, you know?”

 “That makes a lot more sense.” Len chuckled nervously.

 Barry grin got more mischievously. “So, do you want to go on a date with me? We’ll be baking. 8 o’clock, my apartment. Don’t be late.” He winked. Despite them having fought just mere minutes ago, Barry felt light. It was as if his head was filled with pure air.

 “Stop that,” Len groaned.

 “Nope, not a chance.” This felt way too good. The teasing, the … Barry stopped. Huh.

 “We just fought, you do realize that, don’t you?”Len now sounded serious again.

 Barry suddenly felt cold. His heart sank, his head bared of air and filled with reasonable thoughts. Yes, they just had fought. What had gotten into him? He looked back at Len.

 “What. You not into makeup-time?” he tried to joke.

 Len stared blankly at him. Barry sighted. “We’re supposed to make this work. We need practice. And if we don’t act like a couple whilst we’re alone, no one is going to see us as one. Especially not your sister. So be a good fake boyfriend and bring flour with you when you come over, yeah? I’m pretty sure Iris has been snatching some from me.”

 With that, Barry left.

 Once he leaned against his apartment door, he eyed his watch. It was 7.30 pm, just half an hour before their “date” would start. Barry figured he’d have to tidy his flat up a bit before that.

 

 It was 7.50 pm. Barry had cleaned his flat from all the dirt he could find – Len’s perfectly spotless flat made him feel like a hopeless case when it came to a clean household.

 He went over to the fridge and cupboards, got out what they needed, and set it on the kitchen counters. Then he walked over to the bookshelf and searched for the baking book Iris had given him to Christmas once. So he could practice and surprise a girl or something. He didn’t know who it was he pretended to be in love with back then, but it had been in high school, and the only person he could ever think about had been Iris back in these days.

 He sighed. Now he was here, awaiting Len, who wasn’t his actual boyfriend, to bake with him on a pretend-date. Maybe his life sucked a lot more than he thought.

 If Len was his actual boyfriend, he would be excited. And anxious. He would want Len to actually change for him and meet Joe and Iris and Caitlin and Cisco.

 He remembered the day he had decided that he had to move away from Iris, had realized she would never love him.

 He set himself the goal to find a girl. Be with her. Forget Iris.

 Forget his problems.

 But he had only found another problem.

 Barry was pulled out of his thoughts when the doorbell rang. He looked at the kitchen clock – it was exactly 8 o’clock. It would not surprise him if Len had counted the seconds.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)  
> Long story short, I had no internet in the holidays and in my first week of school I was drowning in homework. I just reread the chapter and hope I got all the misspelling out of there. Sorry for only uploading now, folks!  
> Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it! Stay tuned :) I hope you enjoy :D

 Barry hurried over to the door, suddenly feeling nervousness creeping up his spine. He carefully took hold of the handle – he did not want to make a foul out of himself whilst opening a door – and turned it to open the door.

 As expected, Len stood in front of it, hands behind his back. He wore exactly the same clothes he had worn just half an hour earlier, same shirt and trousers. Just the parka was missing. He vaguely remembered Len getting out of it whilst they were fighting. Barry tried not to be too disappointed by it, but hey, he still wore the same clothes, too, right?

 Len shifted, catching Barry’s attention. He realized that Len was hiding something behind his back, bringing it forward now.

 “A present,” Len explained as Barry stared at the untouched pack of flour in his hands, “I do realize that it’s not a flower, but you wanted me to bring some, so…,” he trailed off, a small smile on his lips.

 Barry couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “Thanks. Just put it on the counter there next to the other ingredients.”

 Len did as he was told, putting the flour down next to the eggs.

 “We’re gonna bake some muffins, that okay with you?”

 “I like muffins.”

 Barry nodded to himself. “Good, good. I have a recipe here, but if you want to we can bake another form of muffins. Do you have a wish?”

 Len smiled again. It really has become a normal thing to see him do this. Weird.

 “No, it’s fine by me. Who doesn’t love chocolate muffins?”

 There certainly are people who don’t love them. Some people don’t eat chocolate because they don’t like it or can’t eat it without getting skin problems. But Barry doesn’t comment. “Chocolate muffins it is.”

 “Um, OK. Let’s first weight everything and put it in bowls so we then can add it together.”

 “You’re thinking far too complicated,” Len sighed. He didn’t look like he was tired of Barry already though, just … amused. And it seemed like he had expected Barry to make this ‘date’ awkward. “Come on, let’s get a scale and see where we’re at. How are we to add everything anyway?”

 “Let me see… so first we should melt the chocolate and butter over the bain-marie”, he pointed at it on the counter, “and whilst they’re melting we should mix the vanilla sugar, white sugar, and flour together. These are the first steps.”

 “Good, then let’s do that. How about I do the chocolate and the butter and you see to the vanilla sugar, white sugar, and flour?”

 Barry nodded. It was probably better to split the steps between them, especially since they had to be done at the same time.

 “Good. How much do I need?”

 Barry looked at the recipe. “It says we’ll need 250 grams of dark chocolate and 115 grams of butter. I will need to mix 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar, a 100 grams of white sugar and 35 grams of flour together.”

 “Let’s get to it.”

 So they did. Barry added up the ingredients and then added the eggs one by one until he was rewarded with the smooth dough.

 In the meantime, Len had taken the chocolate and butter down, now melted and cooling. They added the chocolate and stirred it until the dough was thick and creamy.

 “Do you want to grease the muffin tray?” Len asked Barry as he turned the stirrer off and knocked off the dough that clung to it.

 “Yeah, I can do that.” He went and greased the troughs of the muffin tray with the melted butter. “It says we can sprinkle it with cocoa powder, do you want to do that?”

 “Sure.” Len retrieved a small sieve and put some cocoa powder on a spoon. He then dropped it in the sieve, carefully spreading the powder all over the muffin tray. Barry took the bowl with the dough from beside Len and took two of the soup ladles hanging from the wall of the kitchen and handed one to Len. “Let’s get to it.”

 

 They had put the muffins in the oven. It was going to be 10 minutes until they’d be finished. “What shall we do in the meantime?” Barry thought out loud.

 “Look at them baking?”

 “That’s just gonna make me hungry,” Barry protested. It had been close to 6 hours since he had eaten and because they had been with Lisa Barry couldn’t eat as much as he had to. He hadn’t used his powers much lately, but his body burnt like there was no quitting anyways.

 “Hungrier, you mean. You’ve been looking at the dough as if you wanted to eat it right then and there.”

 Barry stared at Len, who eyed him smugly.

 “Don’t stare at me like that, Barry, you know it’s true. With the amount of food you stuff yourself with it’s a wonder you’re not rolling by now?”

 Barry faked a gasp. “Is that a way to treat your boyfriend?”

 Len held up a finger, mouth twitching into an evil smirk. “ _Fake_ boyfriend.”

 Barry had his hands full of flour in no time, throwing the lead at Len’s face. The elder coughed, surprised. Barry felt himself grinning now. Len wiped at his face and stared at him. Barry tried not to snort with laughter.

 “Funny, Allen.” Barry opened his mouth to attempt to apologize, just to be hit by a wave of four, entering his mouth and making him cough himself. “You… buh—bastard.” Barry spat some flour out, coughed again and glared at Len. Then he placed his hand in the flour, took some out and the war began.

 

They were laughing breathlessly and threw the last reminders of flour at one another when a sudden high-pitched noise startled both of them.

 The oven was the quickly-identified source of it, the muffins were ready to be taken out. It was Len who moved first, taking the muffins out and placing them on the counter. Barry sniffed, the strong scent of the muffins luring him in. They were a bit black at some spots, but they still smelled good.

 “They smell good,” Barry voiced his thoughts.

 “Let’s eat, then.”

 Barry is very quick to set up the table, light-speed quick to be exact.

 “Gosh,” Len says as he takes a seat at the table, “I’m never having a flour battle with you ever again. We’re both covered in flour, we smell disgusting and I’m hungrier than before. We should’ve made more.”

 “We can still order something later.”

 “Let’s shower before we do that, alright? And we’ll need to clean the kitchen.”

 “Ok, sir. But let’s eat first.”

 “Please don’t call me sir.”

“OK. **Sir**.”

 He giggled.

 The look Len sent him should have made Barry fear for his life, if he hadn’t known Len so well he certainly would. But he could see that the other man was struggling to hide his smile as the corners of his lips were twitching. Barry wondered when they got to know each other so well. He could practically read Len like an open book sometimes. But then again, he seemed closed off and unreadable to Barry at other times.

 A weird feeling erupted inside of Barry and he immediately tried to shake it – no need to get attached. It would be over in a month anyway. Not even a month anymore. Maybe they would have to expand the time.

 The feeling mixed with hope and Barry cursed himself. This was everything and nothing he ever wanted for Len – him to be the good guy. Naturally, Barry knew this was not for long, only for the few hours that he spent with Barry, but he’d always seen this in him. He had seen the possibility that Len could spend time with someone without freezing anything in the meantime. It gave him a sort of rush of pride and fondness for the other man. As in the feeling you get when a close friend of yours you had hoped would get a good grade for a paper because you saw how hard they worked for it and how much they needed it gets an A+. You’re happy for them. It’s a sort of happiness that stays with you, you feel good because they feel good. If you get a good grade on a paper, you’re happy, sure, but seeing someone else achieving something in life that they deserve is a lot better than achieving something yourself.

 “Barry?”

 Barry reacted slowly, still consumed by his thoughts. “Huh?”

 “You’ve been staring at the exact same spot for a while. Is everything alright?”

 “Yeah. Just thinking.”

 “Tell me about it?”

 Concern laid thickly in Len’s voice. Who would have reckoned that possible?

 “No, it’s nothing important. Thanks.”

 “Well, let’s eat now. I’m hungry.”

 “Uh, don’t mention me.”

  Despite them being halfway black, the muffins were fantastic.

 

 Now, the shower was running and Barry leaned against his shower wall. Len had gone to his own shower to get the flour off his body.

 They needed to have so much distance, Barry guessed. After all, they weren’t dating. They were fake-dating. Hell, they were fake boyfriends, even.

 Barry began to tap at the shower wall. Eventually, he took a breath and sang.

_“She sat there, eyes open wide_   
_And she watched the snow cover the ground outside_   
_Mittens on her hands_   
_A smile ear to ear_   
_She said, ‘In California_   
_It hasn't snowed in years.’”_

Barry paused there, a smile forming on his face. He loved this song. And it fitted – it was getting colder and colder each day. They hadn’t had any snow yet, climate change being the one to blame, but one could hope.

_“So come outside_   
_And we can watch the sky_   
_Turn up your palms_   
_And open your hands up wide_   
_Come outside_   
_And open up your eyes”_

Barry paused again, letting his eyes fall shut and purring some shampoo in his hands. He was rubbing his hands together whilst he began to sing the next lines.

_“Sitting next to me_   
_She ties her scarf on tight_   
_Winter can leave you crying_   
_But it brightens up her eyes_   
_And show kisses her cheek_   
_Where I want to be_   
_And rests on her shoulders_   
_Like in her New York dreams”_

The chorus he sang a little louder falling into a crescendo:

_“So come outside_   
_And we can watch the sky_   
_Turn up your palms_   
_And open your hands up wide_   
_Come outside_   
_And open up your eyes”_

The last lines he sang sweetly, more quietly, drawing out the “eyes”. His hair was full of shampoo now. The next lines he sang rougher.

_“Walk with me..._   
_Take my hand I'll lead you down these city streets_   
_Oh, Won't you walk with me?_   
_Oh, Won't you walk with me?”_

He took his time for the last lines, laying regret in his voice.

_“When she says goodbye_   
_She turns around and smiles_   
_The next time it snows_   
_I'll be on her mind”_

Barry sighed and washed the shampoo out of his hair. He hadn’t sung since Len had heard him.

 Barry’s eyes snapped open.

 Crap.

 

 “You really can sing pretty well, Barry.” Oh, how Barry wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face.

 “Whatever,” Barry said, feeling heat creep up to his face.

 “You’re blushing. You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Len laughed. He was so _different_. It was confusing.

 For a moment, Barry wanted to say something snappy in response but then he settled with rolling his eyes.

 “Do you want to order pizza or mock me?” Barry asked then, fumbling for his phone in his pockets.

 “Seems like you’re alright with ordering,” Len joked. Barry’s phone had finally given up to protest against his attempts to get it out, so he just shot Len a glance and dialed the number of the pizza service.

 

 Several minutes later, they sat on the table and ate Pizza Marguerite. “Huh. Not bad for a first date, huh? Or any date at all,” Len commented, stuffing his face with more pizza than what was supposed to go in his mouth.

 Barry snorted. “Any other person would be disappointed that there wasn’t anything romantic to go with it.”

 “I found our flour war pretty romantic. Us fighting could be a new invention of flirting,” Len said. Barry raised an eyebrow at him.

 “You have a pretty weird mindset, you know that? You cannot fight and flirt at the same time.”  
 “Oh, come on, Scarlet. I know you’ve been flirting with me once in a while.”

 Barry half choked on the piece of pizza he had been trying to eat. “What? No! Why would you even think that?”

 Len laughed. “You’re so awkward. I was just teasing you.”

 “You’re awkward,” Barry responded lamely.

 Len chuckled.

 “What do you find romantic, then? A glass of wine, candlelight and all that stuff?”

 “I guess.”

 “We can do that. But I cannot promise not to bark at the cheesiness.”

 “You’re so closed off. It can actually be nice, you know?”

 “It’s intimate, that’s what it is. And we don’t want that do we? Because when this is over, we will have to go back to the way it has been.”

 Barry nodded. “I know. You asked. I didn’t mean we should do that. Do you think Lisa expects us to go on dates like that?”

 “No. If romantic people were the softest blankets, I’d be a hedgehog. She won’t suspect anything at all.”

 “I cannot believe you just called yourself a hedgehog,” Barry muttered under his breath. Len shrugged.

 Silence filled the room and Barry could hear the ticking of his wristwatch by the time Len spoke up again.

 “We should do this more often.”

 Barry’s head snapped up in surprise. “Huh?”

 “I think we should definitely practice a bit more. I’m pretty sure Lisa will want to bake with us one time. If she does, she’ll get suspicious if you suck at it.”

 Barry snorted. “Oh, we can just say that we got into romantic flour fights every time and didn’t go through with it,” he said sweetly. Len rolled his eyes. “But yes. We should.” After all, the muffins had been a bit black.

 

* * *

 

 

If anyone wonders if the recipe is real, yes. I got it from some blog to make sure it’s accurate. It’s in German though (I’m fluent in German), so I translated it and put it here for you guys in case you want to try and bake some muffins, too J I instantly got hungry, no kidding. But maybe that’s just me XD

 

RECIPE:

  * 250 grams of plain/dark chocolate (it was suggested to use a 60% one, but feel free to use some with a higher percentage, the dough is better this way)
  * 115 grams of butter
  * 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
  * 100 grams of white sugar
  * 35 grams flour
  * 1 pinch of salt
  * 4 eggs



What else is required:

  * Butter for the baking tin
  * 20-30 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder (sorry for the weird numbers, you can just as well use 2 dessertspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, there is no actual translation for the German word)



 

What you’ll have to do:

 

1: Melt the chocolate and butter over the bain-marie

2: whilst the chocolate and butter are melting, mix the vanilla sugar, white sugar and flour.

3: add the eggs to this mix one by one, until it’s smooth dough, make sure to take the chocolate and butter down from the heat once they're melted.

4: add the slightly less hot, melted chocolate, stir it in and beat it for approx. 4 minutes with a stirrer at the highest setting until the mass is thick and creamy

5: make sure to grease the troughs of your muffin tray well and sprinkle it with cocoa powder, preferably with a small sieve

6: fill each of the troughs of the muffin tray with 2/3rds of dough and bake it at 190 degrees top/bottom heat for 10 minutes (you can leave it 1-2 more minutes if you feel like they’re not ready to take out yet)

7: take them out, let them cool down and enjoy whilst they’re still warm!

 

You can get about 12 muffins with this amount of ingredients.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) The next chapter is ready for you guys! I hope you enjoy and please comment and leave kudos if you liked it :D Stay tuned for the next chapter!

 It was a fairly lazy day at S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry felt happy to spend some time with his friends again since he hadn’t seen them for 2 days. It might sound like no time at all but all things considered (Len, Lisa, dealing with Len and Lisa and… LEN and LISA) he couldn’t help but relish in being around his best mates again.

 “Does it sound weird when I say I missed you guys?” Barry says after speeding back inside the Lab from putting out a fire in a penthouse.

 “No, we feel the same, Barry. We haven’t really met since you moved in. We just saw each other two days ago but our actual last time together was a week ago,” Caitlin said in her analyzing way.

 Cisco raised his hand characteristically. “Me too, man. We’re really clingy, huh?” He took a deep sip from his almost empty drink. “I guess that’s what best friends are like.”

 “Not all of them are like that, Cisco,” Caitlin threw in.

 Barry couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips. He really had missed them. All the drama with Len had really gotten him riled up. “Maybe we’re a special case after all.”

 “Actually, we could go to our karaoke bar after work. We haven’t done that in forever,” Caitlin suggested.

 “Yeah,” Cisco said, “in about a month or something. That really is forever.”

 Caitlin hit his arm lightly and they bickered for a while. Barry laughed at them.

 

 The hours went by and finally, they were at the karaoke bar, Barry facing a glass of water. He had not even gotten a weird look for demanding it, the barkeeper knew him well already. In fact, he hadn’t even gotten to open his mouth when he had already gotten presented with a glass of water. “No gas, right?” the barkeeper had said – his name was Warren Kinney, said his name tag – and Barry had nodded.

 “What are you doing these days?” Caitlin wanted to know. “Except for going to work and checking in on the Lab. We haven’t seen you around as much as normal. You know, not daily.”

  “What Caitlin wants to ask, not very subtly if I might add, is if you are in a relationship. Or maybe something else has led to you being weirdly distant.”

 Barry nearly choked on his water. Wow, graceful Allen, he thought sarcastically.

 He looks at his best friends. Cisco let it come across easily, like a joke or something. But his eyes are sincere and Caitlin is way too interested in her glass of wine right now. They actually mean it, Barry realized.

 “No. God, no, I haven’t met anyone. It might be the distance, you know, from where I live now. I just want to get to know my neighborhood a little better.”

 Yeah, right. His neighborhood. Alright.

 Cisco grins. “Good. So you aren’t in a relationship, huh?”

 Caitlin smiles secretly. “Do you see this girl over there?”

 She points in the general direction of several tables. There are also several girls.

 “Which one?”

 “The blond one in the dark blue dress.”

 Barry sees her. She’s quite pretty, he must admit. She has all the right curves, her hair is falling around her shoulders almost perfectly and her feet are put in high heels. She’s laughing at a joke a friend of her told her. Her teeth aren’t perfectly white, but really, whose are. “She’s pretty,” Barry admits. “What about her?”

 “What about her? Man, she’s been _staring_ at you since we arrived.”

 “Really?”

 “Yes, Barry, really,” Caitlin says. Her arms rested assuring on his. “Go talk to her.”

 “I- I don’t really know.”

 “You got that new apartment to get away from Iris, right? Go get the girl.”

 Barry thought about it. They were right, he had wanted to get away from Iris. But then he had run into Len and he had gotten involved with him. His problems, his sister. They lived next to one another. He could try for this, he could talk to Len about this. They hadn’t said anything about Barry not having a girlfriend. An actual relationship. Something in Barry twisted the wrong way. He gulped. He had made a commitment. He had become Len’s fake boyfriend. Yes, fake, but boyfriend nevertheless. Of course, him cheating on Len would be a good reason to split up, but who said that Lisa wouldn’t kill him for it? And if they decided to do this secretly and not taking it as a reason for their split, who said that Lisa wouldn’t find her way inside of Barry’s apartment as she did with Len’s? Who said she wouldn’t hear them in some sort and would barge in, thinking it was Len and him? Who said she wouldn’t try to wait in Len’s apartment until they “finished” and would find Len there? Alone? Without Barry? And if Barry and that girl would meet in a café or at her house, who said they wouldn’t get unlucky? What if Lisa happened to see them? No, it was too much risk. He would have to wait for the split. He promised Len he would help him out. And this was what he would do.

 “You still in there? Mate?”

 “Yes, Cisco. I am. Sorry, I really appreciate your efforts but I think I’ll just stay clear of any women right now. And men, don’t look at me like that, Cisco.”

 Cisco dropped the act of his mouth forming an “o” and his eyes widening.

 “Are you sure? I’m not saying anything, but damn. She’s hot.”

 “I’m not feeling like it. Sorry.”

 “Huh. Never mind. It’s no big deal. Just want to see you happy.”

 Barry smiles at his friends. “Thank you. I am happy.”

 Cisco beams. “Why wouldn’t you be? You have the most amazing people in the world as your best friends!”

 Caitlin eyes him. “That’s no more drinks for you.”

 Barry brakes out in laughter as Cisco tries to find out what exactly Caitlin meant by that. She playfully waves him off dismissively.

 “Hey, c’mon. You got to admit. We -“, Cisco gestures between them “,- are awesome.”

 Barry smiles. Yes. They really are.


	10. Chapter 10

 Barry spent the following day with work and Flash Business. There were lots of burning houses and a few robberies but no villains. Still, it was enough to wear him out.

 His friends were beaming because of the time they managed to spend together now. It was ironic – since so many bad things had to happen in the city on order for them to spend time together. Barry’s thoughts weren’t with the people he saved. They weren’t with his friends that gave him advice as to with route to take. He had only one thing on his mind: their suspicion.

 Yesterday, they had suggested that Barry had a girlfriend that was the reason for his absence.

 Of course, Barry had denied this. But the reality and the lie had stung his guts like nothing else. He just couldn’t get rid of their conversation.

_“You see that girl over there?”_

_“Go get the girl.”_

 Barry remembered the disgust that had settled in after he had returned home that night. He had lied to his friends. He was lying to them constantly. They trusted him. They trusted him to catch people like Len. They didn’t expect him to snog him, to cuddle him, hell, even to help him out with his sister’s wild fantasies wasn’t an excuse good enough.

 What on earth had gotten into him?

 How could he be friends with someone that had murdered when his ultimate goal was to bring people like that behind bars? How could he hold Len’s hand and feel his heart flutter a bit in his chest despite the fact that the man beside him was a criminal?

 Hadn’t he himself told Len that he was a good man? That he was in fact, not evil? Barry had believed it, had wanted to believe it with all his might.

 

 Barry went home really late from S.T.A.R. Labs that day, waving his friends off that wanted to go out drinking again. He said thanks and no, he was not feeling like it, but they should not let him stop them.

 Barry walked up the stairs to his apartment, slowly, wearily. But he didn’t stop at his own door. His chest was tight and his steps were heavy. He needed to get some of that guilt off his chest.

 He knocked on the door, half his mind conscious about it.

 The door swung open and behind it stood Len.

 “Barry,” he said. His ice-cold eyes focused on him tiredly. “What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how late it is? It’s precisely-“

 “I know what time it is, Len. Just – just let me in.”

 Len’s characteristic smirk appeared on his lips. “Missing me already, Scarlet?”

 Barry closed his eyes for a second and drew in a heavy breath.

 “Let’s have our second date.”

 That took him off guard. “What?”

 Barry looked up to a dumb folded, then growingly smug Len.

 “You actually missed me or what –“

 “No. My friends are getting suspicious. We shouldn’t have Lisa get like that, too.”

 “Your friends are getting suspicious at us?” Now he was alarmed.

 “No, no, it’s not what you think. They noticed that I am not around as often anymore. They even tried to pair me with some girl.”

 Len chuckled. “So you got frightened and want to get this business behind you.”

 Barry shrugged. “I don’t know what I want.”

 “What if you just told them? That you are helping me with Lisa, I mean.”

 “Are you serious? They would just put me in one of their prison cells and declare me nuts.”

 “True. So…”

 “So?”

 “So let’s get on with that date.”

 “Really?”

 “Uh-huh. Let’s have a movie marathon. It’s what we told her we do, at least the movie part, but we have been together for longer in Lisa’s knowledge, so we should know a lot of movies and know our respective reactions to a lot of scenes. She knows me, so you cannot make a single thing up without her getting suspicious. The whole lovey-dovey thing at the beginning was child’s play. She was so relieved about your existence that she practically swallowed everything you handed her without question. But now she’ll try to find something foul. She’s just like that.”

 Barry nodded. “Let’s have that movie marathon.”

 

 They were sitting close together on the couch in Len’s living room. Barry’s feet were held warm between Len’s legs and his head rested on his shoulder. They just reached “The lone ranger”. Barry found that he liked western movies and Len seemed to do, too. Along the way, they got some beers and drank a couple while watching the movie. The next on the list was “Brokeback Mountain”. Len had argued that Lisa would expect them to know “gay” movies. Barry had just snorted but had not found it in him to protest.

 Suddenly, somewhere in the middle of the movie, Len asked: “Do you want to try the kissing part again?”

 Barry’s eyes, which had been trained on the screen, already closed a bit from all the beer and the tiredness that followed a full day had widened comically.

 Maybe it was the movie. Maybe it was the beer that filled his veins with this certain type of hotness that can make one reckless. Maybe it was the way Len’s warmth and his scent made him forget about all the doubts and worries from earlier to get softer in his head until they were a fainting noise that could easily be ignored. Barry felt himself shiver a bit. He nodded and met Len halfway.

 Suddenly, the movie was forgotten and Barry lay atop of Len, his hands caressing the side of his face, tracing his sharp cheekbones. He held his icy gaze that was a lot warmer right now than its color suggested. Their kiss was gentle at first, lips pressing against lips hotly, and breaths colliding and lazy movements. It didn’t take long until the pressure got more urgent, fiercer. Len’s teeth grazed Barry’s bottom lip and pulled at them, while Barry returned the favor with his upper lip. When their kiss grew too deep, one of them would break it off not to cross any boundaries that weren’t to cross. Once their lips were too bruised to kiss, they settled with cuddling again. The movie was just over, the credits following.

 “Once this month is over,” Len started. Barry felt himself tensing.

 “Yes?”

 “Our relationship will have lasted three and a half months. Do you think she will believe that?”

 Barry stayed silent for a few deep, thoughtful breaths. “Yes. If we play it right. We will just have to make her believe.”

 Len shifted under him and he had to suppress a noise escaping him. All that kissing had done wonders for his libido.

 “How?”

 “I guess we’ll have to stick to our story and make sure she doesn’t find out that it’s a lie. Make my friends get off my back somehow and … yeah. Just pull through.”

 Silence followed. They were silent a lot. What had been a game, something fun to plan at the beginning, now became something utterly serious, Barry noted.

 “It’s just a month. We’ll manage. And afterward, we can go back to our old … relationship again.”

 Barry didn’t know why, but those words had him feel a pang in his gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Y'all! 10 chapters to go, then Book One is over! I really hope you liked it and make sure that you leave kudos if you liked it! Please leave a comment in order to give feedback!  
>  Stay tuned! :D


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.  
> I know, it's been months. Perhaps I don't have any readers anymore XD  
> I had alot of exams these past few weeks (the last months and the 2 weeks onto November) so I couldn't write. I was either studying or taking a pause from it by either sleeping, eating, or spending the little time I had left with friends.  
> I am very sorry to say that this will by no means be the last time. As I am about to graduate from school, I will not have much free tome from studying. Anyway, as other people also manage to write whilst being busy, I planned to write at least for half an hour every day.  
> I hope you all will enjoy this chapter. Admittedly, it is quite short. But I need it does serve a purpose :) I wish you all happy holidays and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, should I not update until then!

Most surprisingly, Barry didn’t get to work late. Len had woke him up, both of them still laying on the couch where they had soon fallen asleep, no other words being exchanged than “Goodnight”.

Work went by uneventful. Another thing that was surprising. Normally, Barry had to get to at least one case and had someone shouting at him (his boss most of the time) once a day. Not today.

It was highly unsettling.

As it turned out, his uneventful day was just the calm before the storm.

Joe turned up when Barry began to pack his things and was therefore about to leave. He had spent his day working at whatever he could think about, trying to learn something new by reading books about science. There was nothing wrong with expanding one’s knowledge, right? Well, he had read to many books now, since he was apparently faster at it since he had superpowers (he tried to read slowly, but that didn’t seem to slow the process down one bit) and went through 20 books in his work day. Now he had a slight headache that was yet to fade and he really wasn’t in the mood to talk civilly to anyone.

“Hi Barry,” Joe greeted him.

“Hi … um … Joe. What’s up?”

Barry’s tone hadJoe’s forehead wrinkle with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yup, just overdid it with the reading.”

“Uh, OK. I was wondering if you wanted to come to us after work. You know, we haven’t seen you in some time and since we’ve always been together before, the house feels empty.”

Barry paused.

“Yes, of course. Let’s go right now.”

Joe seemed to be relieved. Barry couldn’t figure why he’d be relieved out of everything. He shrugged it off.

They took Joe’s car. Once Barry was seated and the belt clicked in place, Joe began to speak. “Iris is thrilled to see you again. I told her that I wanted to ask you to come. Eddie won’t be there, he’s doing a long shift today, so it’s just us three. Just like back in the old times.”

“I’m glad I get to see her again, too”, Barry said truthfully. “You too of course.”

“How do you like your apartment, by the way? We didn’t have the chance to talk about it, yet.”

“I like it. There’s enough room and yeah. I don’t really spend too much time on it since I have some … you know, Flash business, too, and I go for walks-“

“- you mean runs.”

“- no, walks, I like to feel normal from time to time, you know? Being normal is nice.”

“If you say so,” Joe chuckled. “Many would give the world to have such powers as you have.”

“I know”, Barry breathed. “But not everyone would do the same as I.”

“Like Snart.”

Barry stiffened. “Y-yes like him.”

“Where is that bastard anyway? He hasn’t shown his greedy little face in a while.”

Barry was slightly shocked at the choice of words, but at the same time, he wasn’t. Joe had always hated Len. But then, it wasn’t Len he was talking about. He only knew Captain Cold.

“I don’ know.” Oh, yes, he did know. Len was again, lying on the couch. He had waved at Barry as he had left the apartment.

Barry wanted to be somewhere else, right this second.

“Well, we’re there. Come on, let’s go inside.”

Barry felt relief rush in his veins and he released the belt and opened the car door.

When he stepped out of it, he felt set back 10 days. Back then, he had stood in this exact place and had stepped into this exact car in order to drive to his new apartment. It was insane what had happened in those 10 days.

Barry followed Len inside and was immediately attacked by Iris, who hugged him close to her.

“Woah – hey there, Iris.”

“Oh, I’ve missed you so much! I know it hasn’t been long, but it feels like it’s been months since I have last seen you.”

“We have lived with one another for ages, it’s natural. I’ve missed you, too.”

They let go of each other and grinned some more.

The three of them went to sit at the table. Iris has made Spaghetti.

Taking a few out of the bowl and putting them onto the plates, Barry asked: “Does Eddie work many long shifts lately?”

Iris nodded. “He’s been doing so all week – thank you,” she said taking her plate from Barry, “—I don’t know what he’s planning, but I am sure looking forward to it.” She smiled secretly. “Perhaps he is planning something for the both of us. But I shouldn’t get excited. Maybe it’s nothing.”

Nodding, Barry handed another plate to Joe, who thanked him. Then, he took Spaghetti for himself.

“Sauce?” Iris asked.

“Sure,” was the reply.

A while into eating, both Barry and Joe complemented Iris on her cooking skills. They talked about Iris’ job, Joe spoke about how he wanted to try to squeeze some more shifts in there in order to have a bigger holiday on Christmas than last year, and Barry just listened and answered questions when asked.

How was he liking his apartment?

Did he feel lonely?

What was he up to these days?

Despite being with his Family after days of not seeing each other in this combination, he felt more uneasy than ever.

The food was good, he felt homey. But the problem was that he felt like a liar because every time a new question came up, he kept something secret from them.

And that secret was a person. The secret was Leonard Snart.


	12. Chapter 12

 It was already 8 p.m. when the doorbell rang.

 Barry had stayed over at Joe’s and Iris’ until the very next morning and had then hastily made his way to work once he woke up in his apartment. At 7, when it was time to go home, he did so as Flash in order to have time to sleep some more – 3 hours were by all means not enough for Barry – and therefore he was quite unpleasantly woken up once again.

 He opened the door and was about to voice his anger about being woken up as he spotted Len, who stood before him with hopeful eyes.

 “What. What are you doing here,” Barry managed to say.

 “I was wondering if you wanted to bake again? Let’s make cupcakes. Or would you like to make muffins again?”

 “I don’t believe it. Len, I was asleep!”

 “You weren’t here all day, you didn’t show up yesterday and I was bored!”

 “More like worried, don’t you think?”

 Len glared. “You are essential to me right now. If Flash dies and you suddenly vanish with him, don’t you think my sister will have enough brains to figure it out?”

 Barry rolled his eyes. “Essential, huh?”

 “May I remind you? Fake boyfriends, fool Lisa, break up, … sounds familiar?”

 “You are such a nuisance,” Barry deadpanned and eventually let him in.

“ I’m hungry anyway. Have you got the flour? I think what is over from last time is not nearly enough.”

 “What now, Muffins or Cupcakes?”

 “Muffins, we already know how to make them.”

 “It will be weird if we can only make one type of bakery products,” Len argued, “considering we should have done this enough times already.”

 Barry resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “Fine. But I think cupcakes are too hard and we would have to go shopping.”

 “What, you want to make a cake?”

 “No, yes, I mean … not now. We should try cooking, too, and if it has to be something sweet, how about pancakes?”

 “You’re not funny at all.”

 Barry just smiled at him.

 “Fine, take out whatever we need for that! I will prepare the muffins.”

 

 Half an hour later the pancakes sat in various pans (because why on earth not?) and the muffins were in the oven.

 Barry was just about to turn one of the pancakes when Len’s phone rang.

 Barry startled.

 “Hello?” Len greeted.

 Then his face got first green then pale and green once more.

 “That’s nice of you. We are in Barry’s apartment. Yes, just to the left.”

  Barry got a sinking feeling.

 Len hung up with a: “See you soon!” that kind of felt out of place.

 “It’s Lisa –“, Len began at the same time that Larry said: “Lisa is –“

 They both paused. Barry made a motion for Len to finish.

 “Yes, she’s in front of the door. Surprise visit, I swear.”

 Barry sighed. “Then it’s a good thing you were bored, wasn’t it?”

 Len smiled apologetically and nodded. Barry had gotten so used to a more sheepish Len that he didn’t notice how far his character was from the usual Captain Cold-like Len he has gotten to know in the past.

 “Hi!” They both said overly enthusiastically after opening the door.

 “Hi!” Lisa shouted back, giving each of them hugs and a kiss on the cheek. “Barry, it’s so nice seeing you again. Nice apartment!”

 “Thanks, Lisa” Barry muttered.

 They walked over to the kitchen where Barry hastily turned over the pancakes in fear they might have burned. They luckily hadn’t. Lisa announced how she called because she didn’t want to catch them making out again in the same breath as she said that it smelled really good.

 “Can we bake more?” she asked.

 Barry and Len looked at one another.

 “How about trying out a new receipt? Barry, which of the ones in your baking book haven’t we tried yet?”

 Barry stared at Len. Had he told him about it? How did he know? “Um, yes, some we haven’t tried out yet.”

 Lisa beamed at them. “Awesome! Let’s get it and start baking!”

 “We have to see what we can make. Since we bake so often, we might not have enough ingredients,” Len said slowly.

 Barry nodded along.

 “Oh, that’s ok; we’ll just make whatever we can!”

 

 And so they ended up making more muffins and cookies – even a cake – than they could ever eat alone. Lisa said she would take some of it home and to friends of them as gifts. Barry took some aside for his family and the rest went in a couple of boxes placed at both Barry’s and Len’s apartment to take out of.

 “It was wonderful,” Lisa said. It was already close to midnight. “I hope to do this again. Although we should wait until there’s the need to.”

 She chuckled.

 They waved her goodbye and the door fell shut.

 “Oh my,” Barry said. All evening, Len and Barry had held hands and stuffed each other food in each other’s mouths to make Lisa coo at them.

 “Right you are. Do you mind letting me stay over? I wouldn’t be surprised when she’s put a detector on my doorstep to see when I’m coming back again.”

 At that moment, Barry neither cared if that was just an excuse or something Lisa would really do or had once already done and just nodded. He just cared to sleep.

 “Sure.”

 

 Lying next to one another in bed, facing each other, they each bid the other goodnight.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was the very long first chapter, I hope you liked it :) Stay tuned for the next one, if you did :D


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